


Brothers in Law With High Minded Wives

by hereforthewomen



Category: Downton Abbey
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Mary Matthew and Tom are my brot3, Mary has a heart, Matthew is quite simply the best, Matthew wears his on his sleeve, apparently Mary has to be in everything I write, she's my favourite, this is how it starts, what can i say
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 23:53:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29197923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hereforthewomen/pseuds/hereforthewomen
Summary: "We’re brothers in law with high minded wives, we better stick together.”This is a continuation of Matthew and Tom's conversation in episode one of series three. I love their friendship and wanted to explore how it started!The dialogue at the start is taken from the episode, the rest is my own.
Relationships: Mary Crawley/Matthew Crawley, Tom Branson & Matthew Crawley, Tom Branson/Sybil Crawley
Kudos: 12





	Brothers in Law With High Minded Wives

**Author's Note:**

> One day, I will write something in which Mary isn't the focus of discussion. However, today is not that day!

Matthew walks purposefully through the village, focused, as ever recently, on Mary. Some part of him still can’t quite believe they’re getting married in just a few days, he feels like his mind has been screaming in elation near-constantly since she said yes on that beautiful night in the snow. 

His eyes wander across the scene in front of him, taking in the bunting covering every surface in preparation for the wedding. Then, his eyes alight on an unexpected figure crossing the road towards the pub, his soon to be brother in law Tom. He barely knows the man, though he admires him for taking on Sybil and the whole family that come with her, but something in his body language suggests he could do with rescuing.

Of course, after the ordeal of last night’s dinner it’s not too hard to imagine why, but all the same he feels he should intervene before something truly shocking happens, like a drunk Branson careering through the village. Quite apart from it being the right thing to do, he knows he’d hear all about it from Mary if he didn’t step in.

He walks over towards the man, saying as he does, “bit early for drowning your sorrows”, keeping his tone light, not wanting to get Tom’s back up before he’s had a chance to work out what’s wrong. 

He’s rewarded as Tom turns away from the pub door and gives him a half-smile “I thought it might be better If I moved down to the pub.”

If Matthew had thought about it more deeply, this is what he’d have expected. He’s relieved that Tom isn’t actually considering drinking away his sorrows, but he knows for both Tom and Sybil’s sake he can’t allow this to happen either.

He looks at the other man incredulously, “you’re not serious?”

“I can’t go through too many dinners like last night.”

That, Matthew thinks to himself, is a fair point. He’s not sure he can either, Mary had a lot to say about it after dinner, not much of it complimentary. He understands where Tom is coming from, truly, but he’s also able to recognise that his fiancée isn’t wrong, and Tom could be doing more to ease the transition. 

“You don’t make it easy for them. You really think you can recruit Cousin Robert for Sinn Féin?” he says, approaching the subject with care. 

Tom gives him a small smile and he can tell he sees his point “I don’t know what gets into me, I can see them staring, and I know they don’t want me here.”

This is what Matthew had feared, and as he talks to the other man, he realises that this isn’t true, not for him anyway. In fact, thinking of the end of their conversation last night, he knows it isn’t true for Mary either. 

“Well, don’t include me, or Mary.” 

Unsurprisingly, Tom doesn’t seem completely convinced. “She wasn’t too keen on the idea of a Chauffeur for a brother in law.”

Matthew tosses his head back, rolling his eyes. Tom isn’t wrong, but he also doesn’t know her as he does, nor does he really understand the way in which his impossible soon - to - be - wife sees the world. 

“Forget that, she’s a… pragmatist”

He can see Tom recognises the truth in his words and watches him file that piece of information away for later study.

He looks much cheerier as he nods and replies, ‘she could be a tough fighter too.”

Matthew thinks of the fire Mary produces with every argument and can only agree with this pronouncement. 

“Well, let’s hope she’s not tested. Now, forget this and walk back. We’re brother’s in law with high minded wives, we better stick together.”

He’s relieved when Tom stays by his side, a small smile coming over his face as they head back in the direction of the house. 

However, Matthew is still bothered by Tom’s pronouncement earlier that none of them want him here and is convinced to take the dangerous step of sharing something with the man that Mary had told him in confidence the night before. 

“You know Tom, I’m going to tell you something.”

His companion looks intrigued.

“Oh?”

He ploughs on, knowing that making the next part clear is vital to his future happiness 

“Though, if you tell anyone you heard it from me, I will deny everything.”

Tom nods, and then adds with a knowing smile “even Mary?” 

Matthew snorts. He’s beginning to think that he and Tom could come to be very good friends. 

“Especially Mary.”

“Get on with it then.” 

Matthew thinks about how best to put it, a way to put it that will convince Tom of its sincerity while not giving the totality of his wife’s thoughts on the subject away. “Mary… Mary is very touched that you came with Sybil, she knows, we both do, how brave you have to be to venture back into the house.”

Tom shrugs, clearly uncomfortable with the compliment coming from his new sister in law, albeit indirectly 

“Sybil’s the brave one, not me, working-class Dublin is a far cry from Downton.”

Matthew smiles, seeing the clear love Tom feels for her and feeling comforted by it. 

“Be that as it may, what you’re doing isn’t easy, and she recognises that. She’d never tell you herself of course, but I wanted you to know.”

Tom quirks a brow at him. “And I can’t mention it to her?”

“Have you met her? She likes to pretend that she doesn’t have any emotions, she’d be quite furious I gave her away.” he says, determined that Tom understand at least this much of Mary, and not just out of a sense of self-preservation. 

Hearing this Tom nods, “do you know, when I was downstairs, before Sybil, I’d have believed her.”

“I can believe that” Matthew says, which is quite true. He loves his fiancée, and he truly does understand her, but he often finds the way she puts on a show for everyone else to be rather frustrating. She’s mellowed considerably since they first met, but she still has a tendency to hide her emotions behind a controlled exterior, giving the impression that she doesn’t care. 

Tom isn’t done “But I see the way she is with Sybil, the way she looks at you, and it’s clear it’s not true” he continues, revealing him to be both empathetic and, importantly to Matthew, someone who is capable of understanding Mary. 

He sighs “She finds it very hard to let people in, to give them the chance to know her as she really is.”

Tom seems emboldened by his confession, less hesitant to share his thoughts on the subject. “When Sybil’s scared, she’s the same, she hides behind her manners. It took seeing them together to work out where she gets it from” says Tom, his face making it clear that this is a habit that he finds a little frustrating, or at least unusual

Matthew nods in understanding “Mary.”

“She looks up to her, and I’m glad of it.”

This Matthew knows to be true, and he feels the urge to make it clear this devotion goes both ways, that Mary really does care about her youngest sister. She may not always show it, but she’s devoted to her family and has a soft spot for Sybil that is visible to anyone who knows to look for it. In fact, it was one of the first things he’d noticed that gave him hope that the two of them might have a future, on the long-ago pre-war evening when Sybil had been injured. 

“Mary would do anything for Sybil. She’s not someone you want to cross, but there’s not a better person to have in your corner.” 

Tom looks at him a little disbelievingly, “And she’s in mine?” 

Matthew thinks about it for a moment before answering honestly. “She’s in Sybil’s. But she admits you make her happy, so I think you can count on her support.” Then, thinking about the vows they’re going to make, and feeling this will amuse Tom, he adds “besides, she’s going to vow to obey me very soon, so I may have some sway” 

He’s rewarded for his efforts at humour when Tom snorts, his face lighting up with mirth “Good luck with that.”

Matthew feels himself grinning in kind “Yes, I rather think she’d leave that part out if she thought it wouldn’t cause a scandal. As it is, she’ll likely forget about it altogether at her earliest convenience” he says, thinking to himself that it’s likely to have been forgotten by the time they leave the church. 

Tom looks at him knowingly “As if you’d have it any other way.”

This, Matthew thinks, is true. 

“You’re right. Now, enough about Mary, when am I going to see one of your articles? You won’t make a republican of me I’m afraid, but I still want to read them.”

He knows that Tom’s articles must be impressive, the Dublin paper he writes for is well-known, if left-leaning and recently banned from Robert’s library, but he’s curious to read one for himself. 

Clearly, Tom takes this as a challenge. “Oh, there’s time for you yet” 

At this, Matthew smiles, realising that his earlier suspicions are correct and there’s every chance the two of them may grow to be good friends. He finds himself rather relishing the prospect. 

“That there is. I foresee many happy years of hiding from our wives together ahead of us.”

As he says this, they reach the gates of Crawley House, where they must part, Tom to return to do battle up at the Abbey, and Matthew to go check that his mother and Cousin Violet haven’t yet commenced planning world domination. 

He waves Tom off with parting words that he hopes will send him back to the house in rather a better frame of mind than he left it.

“Now, buck up, and go and kiss Sybil. I’ll see you at dinner.” 

The other man gives him a playful glare at the invocation of his wife’s name and nods at him, squaring his shoulders and heading up towards the drive. Watching him go, Matthew notices that this time he looks less like a condemned man and more like one ready to stand his ground with grace. 

The situation settled for the time being, Matthew turns his thoughts back to Mary. He thinks she’d be proud of him for averting that particular crisis, if perhaps rather disapproving of his methods. Still. She never has to know.


End file.
